


Chase the Mockingbird

by At_your_bec_and_cal



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-12
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2017-12-05 01:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/717410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/At_your_bec_and_cal/pseuds/At_your_bec_and_cal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young man wanders in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, looking for hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, just something I did in my free time. Inspired a little by Contagion, one of my favorite movies

A young man walked through the empty streets of suburban Chicago, his brown hair whipping around in the harsh wind. He had been wandering aimlessly for a long while; unsure of where to go, knowing no place would be safe. It was fifteen years ago this young man was given a name, but only a year ago that society had fallen apart, fallen victim to a rampant disease that had left the world empty and quiet. His parents had given him the name Karkat, but he had not seen them ever since society started crumbling. His hands fidgeted in the pockets of his ragged coat as he kept his slow pace towards downtown, not knowing what he would find there, but knowing that it would be better that what he had now, believing that there might be some glitter of hope there. He figured there would be people there, definitely more than he had seen since the disease spread. It had been months since he had seen another human being, a year since he had touched one. He sighed to himself, taking in the sight of broken down, empty houses, their doors half open and their windows shattered. He recalled the madness of the first few months, how houses were pillaged in desperation, as people searched for supplies, medicine, anything they could find, all in vain. He saw those same people dead on the streets hours later. He looked straight ahead as he walked, letting his mind wander as he continued on, knowing no one would show up, that there would be no threats. He thought about how things would be different if he had someone with him, how he wouldn’t be alone, how his days wouldn’t be filled with needless silence. " _Yeah but they’d get me fucking infected_ ”, he thought to himself “ _As if I need an asshole like that dragging me down_ ”. He sped up his pace a little, determined to get downtown, to see if it held any hope. He thought to himself again, “ _I’m gonna get through this, I fucking swear. I’m not dying on the fucking streets_ ”. He reached back and felt his backpack. Yep. The hand sanitizer was still there; none of it had spilled out. He made a habit of taking all the sanitizer he could find, just to be safe, even if he didn’t really touch anything anyway. He wanted to make sure he wouldn’t get infected. He relaxed a bit and slouched his shoulders, looking at the suburban setting, trying to imagine what it would have been like a year ago. He zoned out as he imagined children playing in the yards; maybe the neighbors throwing a party, a family setting off fireworks. 

He stopped walking as he noticed movement inside of a house. Still zoned out and not aware of his surroundings, he shook himself awake and realized that a girl was coming out of a house, playing with her backpack and singing to herself happily. She stopped as she looked up and saw Karkat staring, his face holding an expression that showed a mix of anxiety and interest. He bent his arm at the elbow and shot his hand up, a greeting that many had adopted once the disease hit, a general gesture that took the place of shaking hands, high-fiving, or hugging. Karkat hadn’t used it in a while. She grinned widely and returned the gesture as she ran over to meet him. “Whoa! Back up!” Karkat yelled, dropping his hand. She stopped in front of him and looked at him, her head cocked. “You’re the first person I’ve seen in a really long time” she said. Her voice was filled with happiness and joy, none of the nervousness or uncertainty that Karkat found in his own voice. “Yeah… same” Karkat replied. He sized her up. She was almost his height, if just a little shorter. She wore a large blue sweatshirt with a little cat face and ears on the hood, which was worn up and it covered her messy black hair. She sported dirty, ragged jeans that had obviously seen a lot of use. “I’m Karkat” he replied, extending his hand once more. The girl threw her hands up in the air. “I’m Nepeta!” she replied loudly. “Can we be friends? It’s been furever since I had a friend!” Karkat wasn’t sure if he heard that right. Was that a weird pun or a southern accent? “Well nice to meet you. Goodbye. Don’t die.” He turned around coldly and began to leave. “Bye? Where are you going?” Karkat looked over to see Nepeta following him. She still had a smile on her face. Karkat sighed loudly. It was beginning to look like his half-hearted wish for a travelling partner had come true. “Downtown,” he replied, “and if you’re going to come you play by my rules.” Nepeta clapped her hands excitedly. “Ooh! Rules? Like fur a game?” Karkat was positive now. She was saying fur. “Uh, yeah, sure. A game.” Karkat raised his fingers as he counted. “Rule number one: no touching. You don’t fucking break that one. Rule number two: don’t eat random food. Rule number three: don’t touch random shit.” He wasn’t looking at Nepeta, but Karkat could hear her repeat the rules silently as he said them. “Got that?” he asked her, looking over in her direction. She had a determined look on her face. “Got it, captain!” Karkat rolled his eyes. “ _God, what a doofus._ ” 

The two of them started walking towards downtown, maintaining a faster pace than what Karkat was keeping earlier. The two were completely silent, save for Nepeta humming upbeat songs to herself. Karkat let his mind wander again as he walked. “ _Hell, maybe this isn’t so bad. She’s not so bad to have around, and it’s sure as hell better than walking alone._ ” He looked at the horizon and saw the city’s skyline as it crept into view. It would still be another day or two of walking before they reached the city. Karkat saw the sun begin to drop and an array of colors filled the sky. If there was anything positive about the apocalypse, this was it, at least in Karkat’s mind. He had never learned to appreciate the sunset before. It just happened every day, nothing special about it. But now it meant something, it meant that he had survived another day, and that he would see the next one soon. He felt as if the vibrant colors were congratulating him, comforting him, telling him that he did a good job and that he was going to do better tomorrow. It also meant the two of them needed to stop. Karkat called out to Nepeta, “Hey, we need to stop for the night. Follow me.” Nepeta followed behind Karkat without a word as he moved towards a house with its door wide open. He walked inside and looked around, careful not to touch anything. “Remember, don’t touch anything!” he reminded Nepeta. “Right!” she responded, continuing to follow him. Karkat looked around. It was a simple ranch house, which meant searching it would be easier. He looked around in the different rooms. The house was a whole was filled with old, frilly wallpaper, and the rooms were painted with bright colors. One of the rooms held a large bed and a mirror with pictures stuck to it, some black and white, some with hazy color, and some with full color, taken with modern cameras. The pictures all showed the same two people, and the two of them got older as the pictures increased in quality. “Who do you think they are? Maybe an old married couple?” Nepeta questioned. Karkat sighed. “Doesn’t matter. They’re dead.” Nepeta’s head dropped a little. It was sad, but it was the truth. Seeing as there was no one in the house, Karkat and Nepeta made their way to the fenced-off backyard. Karkat waved his hand around, motioning towards the yard. “This is where we sleep. Get comfy.” Nepeta giggled and plopped down on the grass. “I sleep outside a lot, so this is nothing new!” Karkat held back a smile. He could get used to this kind of company. “Good, now get to sleep. We’re walking all day tomorrow.” Both of them laid their heads down on the grass and looked up at the disappearing sunlight. Karkat heard Nepeta’s voice pipe up. “So we’re going to the city right? Why do you wanna go there so bad?” Karakt shrugged. “I don’t know. Well maybe it’s because I don’t know what’s there that makes me want to go.” Karkat rolled over, frustrated with his own indecisive answer. “I don’t fucking know. Go to fucking sleep.” He heard a happy sigh come out of Nepeta before she went silent. Karkat closed his eyes and thought of his life before the end of the world, before he had to leave his family behind. He had a normal family before the disease spread, and they lived a normal life in Illinois. But the day a state of national emergency was announced, that November day one year ago, Karkat’s dad came into the living room, blood streaming out of his nose, trying to talk but not being able to make a sound. Karkat panicked. He ran into his room, grabbed his back pack, and fled out the window, not sure where he was going, not sure what would happen. He chased a nameless hope, the thought that somehow, life would improve. He was beginning to believe that. Karkat’s consciousness drifted away, and for the first time in a long time, he slept restfully. 


	2. Chapter 2

The rising sun greeted Karkat as he awoke, just as it had for months. He made a habit of waking up as soon as the sun came up so that he could get a head start, to make the most of the day, and he was hoping Nepeta would adapt. He called out to her, “Hey, wake up, sleepyhead.” She groaned and rolled over. Karkat rolled his eyes and yelled, “Hey! Wake the fuck up! Time to go!” She struggled to stand up and shook her head violently, trying to wake herself up. She yawned loudly. “But it’s early….” Karkat reached down and grabbed his backpack. “I get up early and sleep early. Get used to it.” He put on his backpack and waited for Nepeta to collect herself. He watched her as she lowered her hood and swung her cat-shaped backpack onto her shoulders, swaying sleepily with every movement. Seeing that she was ready to go, Karkat made his way through the house, instructing Nepeta to follow close behind him. He led her out of the house and back on to the main street, where Karkat saw that shops and stores were beginning to replace the rows of broken houses. Karkat looked at the tattered array of looted shops and began walking forward, following the street as it took him out of the neighborhood and closer to downtown, to his destination. 

He looked around as he walked; trying to scope out what stores weren’t cleaned out, which ones might hold supplies. Karkat knew his supply of food and water was practically empty. He had gone too long without scavenging for safe food. He usually stockpiled canned food whenever he could, but it had been a week or two since he could find anything, and he assumed Nepeta was in the same position. Karkat’s face darkened as he walked. “Shit… now I’m going to have to find food for two people too,” he thought to himself. “Whatever. It’s worth it. Even if she’s a weird cat girl, she’s better than nothing.” He looked back at Nepeta, who was keeping pace easily, looking at the ground and humming happily to herself as she walked. Karkat began to look at her a little more, taking in every last detail of his travel partner. Now that her hood was down, he could see her jet-black hair in full, which curled up at the ends and didn't go past her jawline. It was greasy and messy, and she obviously didn't care which way it went, not that Karkat cared much about his either. Karkat’s eyes moved to her cut-up pants, which seemed to be just the right size. “ _Shit, didn't she grow at all since last year? There’s no way she hasn’t been wearing them the whole time._ ” Her pants were torn and ripped everywhere, and the bottom of the pants legs were in special disrepair. He looked back up at her face to find that he had been discovered. She was looking right at him. She giggled. “What are you looking at? What’s so inturresting?” Karkat turned his head around and shrugged. “Nothing. Just keep walking.” Karkat looked up at the sky to see that the sun was now fully out and hiding behind a few clouds. He averted his gaze to the side to see a collection of storage garages, almost all of them half open. There was bound to be something there. He turned back to Nepeta and pointed towards the garages. “Let’s go in here real quick. We might find something. Maybe some food.” Nepeta crossed her arms. “I thought you said not to touch random stuff?” Karkat groaned “Not unless I say so!” Nepeta rolled her eyes playfully. “Whatefur you say, oh righteous leader.” Karkat was almost expecting that cat pun. 

Karkat slid under a garage door into the storage space within, and the light from outside crept into the garage, illuminating its contents. “Fuck. Nothing here” Karkat stated solemnly. Nepeta’s voice came out happily, as if they had found buried treasure. “That's ok! We'll find plenty of stuff! There so many places left to look.” Karkat looked over at Nepeta, who was grinning widely. “How can you be so positive?” Karkat questioned, “If we don't find any food, we don't eat. Don't you fucking get that?” Nepeta rocked back and forth on her heels, her smile dropping a little. “Yeah, but if we don't know fur sure we won't find any then we shouldn't just give up.” She frowned a little, obviously shaken by Karkat's words. Karkat looked at her, a little surprised. “ _Is that what keeps her going?_ ” he thought to himself, “ _Is that why she's so fucking happy all the time? Because she doesn't know what's going to happen? That's fucking backwards._ ” Karkat looked around again at the garage, which was filled with useless trinkets and empty soup cans. “ _Or maybe she's more like me than I thought. I mean, hell, I don't know what's going to happen in the city, but I'm going there anyway._ ” He turned back to Nepeta and apologized. “Hey, I'm sorry for yelling alright? I'm just worried about what we're going to fucking eat.” He moved past her and ducked under the garage door to leave. “Come on, one of these damn things has to have something useful.” Her demeanor changed almost immediately, and she followed Karkat back outside happily. Upon stepping outside Karkat looked around and found an open garage that wasn't open when he and Nepeta had entered. Loud laughter and musty smoke emanated from the open garage. Karkat motioned for Nepeta to follow him as he inched towards the garage; if there were people there, they might have food. Of course, Karkat wouldn't come into contact with them, and he wouldn't let Nepeta touch them either. “ _Yeah, she's naïve as hell and troublesome and weird,_ ” Karkat thought to himself, “ _But if she’s going to give me company I’m going to return the favor._ ” He came up on the garage and looked in, and when he saw who occupied the garage his heart stopped. 

Karkat recognized the two in the storage space as two of his friends from his high school, all the way on the opposite side of Illinois, Gamzee and Terezi, both of which were surrounded by boxes of crackers and were occupied with smoking from a bong. Gamzee’s wild brown hair had grown longer and messier from what Karkat remembered, and he had gotten taller too, not that Karkat would have believed a year ago that Gamzee could get any taller. Terezi’s black hair was kept at the same length it always was, but it was as greasy and messy as Gamzee’s hair, a direct contrast from the neat style she kept in high school. Gamzee looked up noticed that Karkat was standing in the entrance of the garage. Terezi laughed when she recognized him. “Yo, my brother, what is up?” Gamzee croaked out. Karkat didn't answer. Gamzee scrambled to his feet and walked over to Karkat. “How you been doin’ in this motherfuckin’ apocalypse, brother? Life been treatin’ you good?” Gamzee noticed Nepeta hiding sheepishly behind Karkat, her hood up. “Who's this fine young thing you got here?” Gamzee questioned. Terezi made sounds like she was going to say something but couldn't speak past her laughter. Karkat moved to avoid Gamzee as he made his way up to Nepeta, and the lanky teen took Nepeta’s chin in his hand and brought his face to hers. “What's your name? You wanna toke?” Karkat snapped. He couldn't hear, he couldn't see, and the last thing he remembered was a smack and a thud. 

When he came to his senses he was leaning up against a fence. There were houses around him again, and he noticed Nepeta was collapsed on the ground, struggling desperately to catch her breath. Karkat looked up. The city's skyline hovered over them. They were close. Nepeta’s breathing slowed and she got up off the ground, looking at Karkat worriedly. “Are you ok now? You broke another rule, you know.” Karkat didn't answer. Instead, he fished hand sanitizer out of his backpack. “Hands,” he rasped out. Nepeta held out her hands as Karkat poured copious amounts of hand sanitizer into them. “Chin,” Karkat instructed, circling his finger around his own chin. Nepeta rubbed the sanitizer in her hands and applied it grudgingly on her chin, following Karkat’s instructions. Karkat calmed down and decided to find out what happened. “What did I do?” he asked, “I don't remember.” “You punched that guy when he touched me,” Nepeta recounted, “Then you grabbed my hand and ran. We ran for a really long time!” Nepeta threw her hands in the air as she finished. Karkat’s eyes widened and he quickly covered his hands in sanitizer. Nepeta spoke up again. “Who were those people? They didn't look very furriendly.” Karkat sighed and looked down at the ground. “Old friends, Gamzee and Terezi. I knew we couldn't trust those fuckers. And Terezi… well maybe she was more to me than a friend. But that was before the world turned to shit.” Karkat frowned as he continued, and spoke as if he were explaining things to himself, trying to reassure himself. “I knew everyone would change after the disease started spreading. I guess I thought I could trust them at first? And I kind of believed that for a minute, like I really fucking did. But yeah, they changed. Hell, Terezi hardly ever talked to Gamzee before. And I knew Gamzee smoked but I didn't think he'd get Terezi into it…” He looked back up at Nepeta, thinking he had disinterested her with his rambling. Instead, she looked at him wide-eyed, with a look of concern on her face. “Are you sad fur your furriends Karkat?” “Yeah,” he responded, “I just wanted to believe they wouldn't change. I was a fucking idiot.” Nepeta smiled big. “Well you've got me now Karkat! You don't need stupid old furriends!” Nepeta’s words were a little inconsiderate, but Karkat knew she meant well. He thanked her sincerely and turned towards the city. They started on the last stretch, and Karkat instructed Nepeta to walk beside him now instead of behind him. As they approached the city Karkat saw that the city appeared to be much like the neighborhoods: empty. Not a soul was seen on the streets. They walked through the streets, both of them scanning tirelessly for any sign of human life. Karkat looked over to Nepeta. “Fuck, there better be people here.” Nepeta responded positively. “We'll find somebody, Karkitty! I’m sure of it.” Karkat looked at Nepeta with a puzzled expression on his face. “Karkitty? Where the fuck did that come from? Don't drag my name into your weird cat puns.” Nepeta pouted. “Aw, come on! It's cute! And your name already sounds like ‘cat’.” “Fine, whatever,” Karkat responded. As soon as he finished his sentence, a young girl about Karkat’s age darted from an alleyway across the street Karkat and Nepeta were following, struggling to balance two large boxes as she ran. She noticed Karkat and Nepeta and struggled to slow to a stop, nearly toppling her boxes. She jogged over to meet them, still holding the heavy-looking boxes. She looked to be a little taller than Karkat, her hair was black, like Nepeta’s, but much longer. She had large, round glasses and wore a doctor’s coat with the sleeves rolled up, showing a nasty bruise on the inside of her left arm, just below her bicep. “Hi!” she exclaimed happily. “Are you two sick? Or healthy?” Karkat looked on in confusion. She was definitely the strangest person he had met in a long time. “Healthy!” Nepeta called out from beside him. “Great!” the girl called out happily, “Follow me!” Still a little confused, Karkat walked behind her slowly, motioning for Nepeta to walk closer to him, while still obeying the ‘no touching’ rule. The girl took them into the side entrance of a small hospital, and once inside the two could hear soft groaning and coughing coming from other parts of the ward. “Hey,” Karkat started, “Why’d you take us inside here with sick people? We could get sick!” The girl dropped the boxes on a table, and upon further inspection, Karkat saw that they held syringes. Nepeta shuddered audibly from beside him. “You'll be fine! I'm going to have John see to you guys. I'm Jade, alright? Just wait here.” The girl strolled off, leaving Karkat and Nepeta behind. A high-pitched voice seemed to converse with Jade’s voice from another part of the hospital. Soon thereafter, a young man clad in a doctor's jacket came walking up to Nepeta and Karkat, just as happily as Jade had approached them. The boy wore thick glasses and had brown hair filled with cowlicks that stuck out in various directions. He raised his hand in a greeting, speaking to them happily. “Hey! I’m John, are you two Nepeta and Karkat?” The two of them nodded. John rested his fingers on his chin and squinted at the two of them. “Have you guys been vaccinated yet? Or had an immunity test?” This was too much for Karkat to take in. “ _Whoa whoa, stop the shit train. Why the hell is he touching his face? Isn’t he worried about getting infected? And he works with all these fucking sick people, doesn't he? How is he not fucking dead? And a vaccine? Immunity? Do those even fucking exist?!_ ” Both of them shook their heads, their shocked expressions drawing laughter from John. “Wow, you guys look really surprised! Well we can get you two vaccinated right away!” Nepeta spoke up, her voice shakier than it usually was. “Does the vaccine involve…. Needles?” John groaned. “Yeah, it does. You don't like needles do you?” He laughed nervously while Nepeta shook her head wildly. “It's ok! Just a little pinch! That's it!” John was obviously lying. Karkat could hear the uncertainty in his voice. A blonde girl about the same age as John came up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Karkat shivered. “ _What the hell is it with these people and touching? I don’t fucking get it!_ ” Karkat looked at her arm to see the same bruise that Jade had, in the exact same place. “John,” the girl began in a calm, collected tone, “are you planning on vaccinating both of these people?” John looked back at her, smiling “Yep! Jade says they're healthy. Is there a problem?” “Yes,” the girl replied, looking at Nepeta and Karkat, “we only have enough vaccine for a single shot. The rest won't arrive for another week.” Karkat had enough. He had questions that needed answering. “Wait. Hold the fuck up. How do you people have a vaccine? Where the fuck are you getting a vaccine? I thought all of the important people were dead!” The girl laughed a little bit. “Don't assume. Some doctors lived. My mother is a medical scientist. She and others like her began to develop the vaccine as well as the immunity test, right here in Chicago. However, the development center is further in, and as I'm sure you know, using cars for transportation is out of the question, so we have to wait a bit for new vaccines to arrive.” Karkat breathed a sigh of relief. This was good news. Society was beginning to rebuild itself, there were people out there that were still looking to move humanity forward. Karkat pointed to Nepeta. “Give her the shot. Give me the test.” Nepeta squeaked and looked at him. He knew she wouldn't like it, but he wanted her to be safe. Silently, he cared for her, and taking out her risk for infection was just one less worry on his mind. The girl smiled softly. “Fine then. John will show you around while I prepare the vaccine and the test. Won't you be so kind John?” “I-I will? Well ok!” John and the girl went separate ways, and Karkat and Nepeta were led deeper into the hospital. Karkat tried to fight back the smile that crept across his face. They had done it. He had found it. He found to nameless hope he was searching for.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa it's been forever since I last updated this. But thank you for the kudos and comments! They all really help considering this is my first fic.

Nepeta and Karkat walked closely together behind John as he led them through the empty halls of the hospital, away from the sick and dying. John looked into every opening, every doorway, looking doggedly for something or someone. “Finally”, he exclaimed in excitement. He led Karkat and Nepeta into a room, completely empty except for a tall girl in the corner, writing something on a pad of paper. She raised her head to greet them, exuding a certain calmness as she looked at them. She was clad in a simple red dress rather than a doctor’s coat like John and Jade. Her black hair was styled neatly, and she was the most well-kept person Karkat had seen in a year. John extended an arm towards the girl to introduce her, talking happily. “This is Kanaya! She’s a real big help. She doesn’t do doctor stuff like I do, but she meets with the patients and comforts them and stuff. She’s vaccinated too! Show them, Kanaya!” Kanaya extended her arm to reveal the same bruise the blonde girl and Jade had. Karkat was beginning to wonder if all of the ‘doctors’ were vaccinated. He didn’t want to call them doctors, as all of them were the same age he was, as far as he could tell. Karkat spoke up. “Hey are all of you guys vaccinated? Were you the first ones to get it?” “Yeah, we were the ones that tested it,” John replied, “sort of like guinea pigs. But I didn’t get it! See?” John rolled up his long sleeve, revealing a clean arm without a bruise. “I’m immune! Pretty cool huh?” “Lucky!” Nepeta yelled out, “You didn’t need to get a dumb shot.” John and Kanaya both giggled. “Oh come on, Rose says it’s not that bad,” John assured. “Rose?” Karkat inquired. John’s eyes shot open. “Oh yeah! She was the blonde one. She left without even introducing herself! She’s kind of weird and mysterious that way, like a cagey action hero, except she doesn’t shoot bad guys or take over planes.” Kanaya giggled at John and gathered up her pen and pad and turned to leave. She met Nepeta as she headed towards the doorway, giving her advice as she left. “Don’t worry about the shot. Just don’t think about and don’t look at it.” Her voice was steady and assuring, as if she held some kind of deeper wisdom. When she left the room John clapped his hands together, drawing Nepeta and Karkat’s attention towards himself. “Alright! I’m pretty sure Rose is done now. Why don’t we get this over with?” Nepeta gulped, her hand gravitating towards Karkat’s, but she jerked it back, knowing she couldn’t. They were so close to getting the vaccine, to being safe. She couldn’t risk it now. Karkat looked at her sadly. He wanted to encourage her, to tell her that this was why she needed the shot, so that they could touch, so that they could feel like normal people again. But he couldn’t speak, the words wouldn’t come out. He looked her in the eyes, trying to reassure her, since he couldn’t find his voice to encourage her. John’s laughter broke up the silence and he led both of them out of the room and down the hall, to where Rose was. Nepeta looked back at Karkat with a horrified look in her eyes as Karkat was led away by John into the other room for the immunity test. 

He sat down on a hard chair in the other room, waiting for John to get ready to pump blood for testing. “You guys were adorable,” John said as he worked, “Staring into each other’s eyes and stuff.” Karkat groaned. John’s nonchalance was becoming annoying. As Karkat opened his mouth to tell John to shut up, a piercing scream came from down the hall. Karkat sprang out of his seat, trying to dart out the door, knowing it was Nepeta screaming. John jumped in his way and pushed him back. “Hey! She’ll be fine! We need to do the test, ok?”Karkat struggled against John, shouting out protests, trying to get through the door. “Let me the fuck out! She fucking needs me!” Karkat shoved John aside and ran down the hall as fast as his feet could take him, arriving at Nepeta’s room to find her sobbing in her chair sitting next to Rose, who held her face in her hands. Rose looked up at Karkat with a tired, frustrated expression. “Would you mind helping? I can’t even get near her.” Nepeta fidgeted in her chair as Karkat reached over to a shelf near the doorway and grabbed a box of gloves, slipping a pair on silently. He walked over to Nepeta and crouched down, getting down to her level and taking her hand in his. “Hey it’s just one pinch ok? One pinch and then no more fucking rules.” Out of the corner of his eye, Karkat saw Rose silently lower the needle to Nepeta’s arm. They were close; he just needed to hold her attention for a little longer and the two of them could break down the barriers between them, the only things that kept them from touching, embracing, feeling like normal people again. He looked up at her, her face showing a happy expression through her tears. “Do you purromise there won’t be any more rules?” she asked, “I don’t like them. They’re lame.” “Yeah,” Karkat responded, “We won’t need them after this.” Nepeta gave a happy smile and opened her mouth to talk, but was cut off by Rose, Who was disposing of the needle. “All done,” she informed. “It really wasn’t that bad, now was it?” Nepeta looked down at her arm. A bruise was already starting to form, just like the one the doctors sported. Karkat rose to his feet and disposed of his gloves. He turned to leave, motioning for Nepeta to follow him. “Thanks,” he called out to Rose. “No apologies necessary,” Rose responded, “We simply want to save as many people as we can. We’ll try to have your test results done as soon as possible. If I get them to my mother, we can have them done by tonight.” 

Karkat left the room and walked down the hall, apologizing to John as he entered the other room. John stayed silent and pointed to the chair Karkat had sprung out of. Karkat sat down without a word, and Nepeta stood in the corner, watching as John inserted the pump into Karkat’s arm. Karkat looked away as John pumped blood. John began to speak as the blood was pumping. “You really scared me there. But you reminded me of someone. He used to work here with us too. He was sort of like our bouncer I guess. He kept too many people from getting in when things got crazy. Rose’s mom said he was a big help, and we all thought he was too.” John continued his speech as he removed the pump from Karkat’s arm and gave him gauze to hold over the insertion point. “We called him ‘The bouncer’. He sort of gave that nickname to himself.” John laughed. Karkat looked over at John to see that his expression didn’t fit laughter. His face looked sad, as if he was rediscovering something he wanted to forget. John held his sad expression as he continued. “He would stay outside all day when a lot of people tried to get in. And out of all the times we got really busy he only came inside twice. The first time was when he brought his brother in. he carried him in on his shoulder even though everyone could see the guy was sick. I mean he had blood coming out of his mouth and everything. We didn’t know about immunity or a vaccine back then. Heck, I washed my hands all the time. Really didn’t want to get sick like my dad did.” John furrowed his brow as he finished putting away the pump and securing the blood pack for testing. “His brother was pretty far along, and he didn’t have long. He told us to keep his little bro safe. He told us not to let his little bro die.” John’s eyes filled with tears as he continued. “We heard yelling before the second time he came in. Then things got really quiet outside. People had stopped yelling and everything. Then he came in, blood running down his shirt. We found out later he had stayed out there after he started showing symptoms. He used it to scare people away, so that they wouldn’t come inside. People told us he was yelling at them, saying ‘Don’t bother these people! Can’t you assholes see they’re trying to help?’ They listened. People came started coming in lines after that.” Tears ran down John’s face, his voice taking on a shrill tone as he continued. “He died helping us! But we needed him here! He encouraged all of us and helped us move on, and even Rose was scared! But he helped everybody be brave, and we’ve come so far because of him!” John looked over at Karkat, who looked on helplessly, wanting to help but not sure how. “I loved him you know? I wanted the two of us to get through this. I wanted everybody here to get through it.” John pulled himself together and dried his tears. “We buried him in the back. At the end of the hall. We wanted to give him a special burial, away from the other bodies.” John looked away from Nepeta and Karkat and made for the door, leaving one last message. “You guys will get food and bed tonight ok? Our treat. Second floor, first room on the left.” As John left Karkat rose to his feet, left the room, and headed down the hall with Nepeta following beside him. “Where are we going, Karkitty?” she asked, having obviously recovered from her vaccination incident. “I want to go see this guy’s grave,” Karkat responded, “He sounded like a good guy. I just want to see it before we leave.” “We’re leaving?” Nepeta asked curiously, “But John said we could have food and a place to sleep! And I’m hungry, Karkitty.” “We’ll stay the night, don’t worry,” he reassured her, “But whether I’m safe or not we’re leaving tomorrow. Lake Michigan is close. Maybe we can get a boat somewhere.” He looked over to Nepeta, who nodded in agreement. “We just got here, but we can’t stop moving,” he thought to himself, “ _We’ll find a place to stop soon, but this sure as hell isn’t it. We’ll stay for the night and move on tomorrow._ ” They reached the end of the hall and came upon two large double doors, both of which were propped open. They stepped outside, into a makeshift graveyard behind the hospital. What seemed to have once been a garden for the patients to enjoy was now a barren graveyard, and mounds of dirt decorated the landscape rather than flowers. Two people stood leaning on their shovels, engaged in deep conversation, both around the same age as Karkat and Nepeta. One was a towering young man with jet black hair that dropped down to his shoulders. His face was covered in sweat, and he dressed plainly, with a simple short-sleeve shirt and dirty jeans. The other gravedigger was a girl shorter than him, with unruly long hair that covered most of her back. It was tied up neatly, considering the dirty nature of her work, and she wore a worn-out hat on her head. She seemed to be the most upbeat person in the hospital, as she held her conversation enthusiastically. The boy looked on knowingly, saying little. The girl noticed Karkat and Nepeta approaching and stopped her conversation suddenly, turning to the two and raising her hand in a greeting. “Hi there,” she started energetically, “Are you guys patients? Or are you healthy?” Nepeta eagerly rolled up her sleeve to answer. The girl poked Nepeta’s arm and giggled. Nepeta winced. “Just got it huh? Lucky you!” The girl looked over to Karkat. “What about you? Did you get it too?” Karkat shook his head. “No. They didn’t have enough. They took a test though.” The girl looked at him excitedly. “Oh the immunity test? Not a lot of people are immune, but you’ll definitely be!” Karkat couldn’t find it in himself to share her positivity. Nepeta looked up at Karkat worriedly. He tried to give a positive answer to reassure her, so that she wouldn’t have to worry about him. “Yeah. I think I’ll be.” He didn’t really believe that. Karkat looked around in the former garden, finding mounds of dirt where there should be grave markers. “Where are the tombstones?” Karkat asked, “It’s obvious you’ve buried people. So how do you know who’s who?” The girl shrugged. “We really don’t. We had too many people and too little time.” This time the tall boy spoke up. His gravelly voice made Nepeta and Karkat both jump a little. “We were truly overwhelmed, especially during our first few months of operation,” he explained. He pointed to the girl next to him and continued. “The people here took Aradia and me off the streets and enlisted our help. There were so many people they couldn’t save. It was horrifying.” The girl named Aradia nodded in agreement. “Equius and I had to carry the bodies out here on carts. It wasn’t safe to touch them. Once I got vaccinated it and we learned Equius was immune it was a lot safer. But still…” Aradia trailed off. Equius picked up her thought. “We still didn’t think it was right to bury them like this.” Karkat nodded. He knew it wasn’t right, but the world was getting emptier every day. “But there is one tombstone right? For this bouncer guy.” Both of the diggers looked down at the ground. “Yeah, we made sure to give him a proper burial. Everyone agreed on it,” Aradia explained. Equius looked back up at the two in front of him. “He was deeply respected, truly an inspiration to us all. He had an odd sense of humor, but he refused to let any of us lose hope.” “He sounds like he was a really nice guy,” Nepeta said, as if to console the two of their loss. Aradia looked at her and confirmed her assumption. “He really was! Everyone’s happier now because of him.” Aradia pointed to a small stone in the back of the empty graveyard. She walked the two over to it, explaining on the way. “We couldn’t get a fancy tombstone or anything, but Equius carved one out of stone. He did a pretty good job, too!” She slapped Equius on the back, who blushed with embarrassment. Karkat leaned down to get a good look at the stone, and Nepeta followed. It read “The Bouncer” and below his title it read his name: “Dave Strider”. Karkat got up and thanked them. He looked up at the sky, seeing that the sun was beginning to drop, slowly filling the sky with a bright array of colors. The two waved goodbye to the gravediggers and headed back inside, following John’s instruction and going to the second floor, where a room was ready for them.

Karkat opened the door to find a neatly made bed, old, discarded sleeping clothes, and other second-hand clothes folded neatly in the corner. Karkat inspected the clothes to find a note, written in goofy, simple handwriting. Just from reading it, Karkat could tell it was John’s. “Here are some free clothes! It’s not hard to tell you guys have been wearing those same clothes forever. These are super clean, so don’t worry about it, ok? Also, sorry about earlier.” Nepeta tore the note from Karkat’s hand and exclaimed excitedly, “We get new clothes Karkitty! Isn’t that great? They look just our size too!” Karkat picked up the clothes and examined them more closely. “ _Yep, definitely my size._ ” He took up the sleeping clothes and turned towards the closet as he spoke to Nepeta. I’m going to go change ok? You change too.” He heard Nepeta squeak behind him as he entered the closet and closed the door. He slipped off his dirty clothes and threw them on the floor. He began to think to himself as he slipped on the cool, clean clothes John had given him. “ _I really don’t get why they’re doing this much for us. All they really needed to do was give us the vaccine and tell us to leave. That’s it. But they’re keeping us here, almost like they want us to stay. And they’re giving us food. What the hell, do they really have any to spare?_ ” Karkat let out a frustrated grunt. He really didn’t get these people. He heard Nepeta’s voice from beyond the door. “Are you ok Karkitty? You sound kind of furustrated in there.” “Yeah I’m ok,” he called back, “I just don’t fucking get why these guys are helping us? I mean don’t they have enough shit on their plates without us?” “Hmm... Purrhaps it’s beclaws of this Dave guy! Maybe he made them really nice!” Karkat stared hard at the door. “Maybe,” he responded,” I mean there’s no other way these people can be so goddamn positive.” He slipped on the black t-shirt John had given him, which fit well and was more comfortable than Karkat could ever want, and exited the closet. Nepeta sat on the bed, swinging her legs out as she sat. Karkat plopped down on the bed, feeling completely relaxed and renewed, even if it was just a change of clothes. He looked over to Nepeta who, if it was even possible, looked happier than usual, and was obviously just as relaxed as he was. “Let me see your arm,” he instructed. She held out her arm, looking at him questioningly. Karkat examined her arm, seeing that the bruise was becoming much like Rose’s and Jade’s, as there were large purple and green spots forming around the point where the needle went in, and the entire area was stained with a light red. Nepeta’s voice cut into Karkat’s focus. “You can touch it if you want to, Karkitty. No rules, remempurr?” Karkat shrugged and poked her arm, causing Nepeta to squeak in pain. He scolded her. “If it still hurts then don’t tell me to fucking touch it!” Nepeta looked at him meekly. “But it’s ok. I mean it doesn’t matter if we get to touch. Beclaws we don’t ever get to do that.” Karkat’s eyes widened. He forgot how much it meant to touch someone, to share that special kind of connection, something no one had done since the disease began to spread. Touching someone became dangerous, an easy way to get infected, and an easy way to die. He understood how much it meant to her, and nodded silently in agreement. He began to slip his hand into hers, as if to apologize, to tell her that he was sorry, that he didn’t understand, but also to tell her that he wanted to share that connection too. Before he could slip his hand in fully the door swung open and John came in with a tray of food and utensils, and had obviously recovered from his fit. “I brought the food!” He laid down a large green tray onto Karkat’s lap. It had two plates, one containing a large steak and mashed potatoes, the other containing a few slices of ham and corn. Karkat’s mouth watered. It was the most food he had seen in months. “The steak is for Karkat,” John continued, “since he had blood taken. Gotta eat up to feel better!” John turned around and left the room just as happily as he had entered it, and shut the door behind him quietly. Karkat looked over at Nepeta, who was eying his steak hungrily. With silent actions, Karkat cut off a section of the plump steak and dropped it on Nepeta’s plate. She looked at him in surprise. “But you need that steak Karkitty! I don’t need it at all,” she protested, looking at him worriedly. Karkat began cutting pieces of the steak for himself, responding to her as he cut. “Just fucking eat it. You’ll need more than the ham, and I don’t eat as much.” Nepeta responded to him, mumbling. “Thanks, Karkitty.” In truth, Karkat could have used the steak, but he wanted to keep Nepeta full and happy. He couldn’t stand the thought of his travelling partner going hungry. Just being there for him was all she needed to do, just being next to him comforted him more than she could ever know, and her optimistic attitude kept him moving forward. He watched her as she devoured the steak and wolfed down the other food on her plate. Karkat smiled as he looked on. He enjoyed watching all of her movements and how she did everything in her own unique and adorable way. Karkat shook his head and turned back to his steak. Maybe adorable wasn’t the right word. He looked at the wall and thought to himself as he chewed his steak. “She’s not adorable. I mean interesting maybe, but not cute or adorable. Fuck, I can’t be having these thoughts.” He turned back to look at Nepeta, who was finishing her food. He looked at her full figure as she ate, taking in every bit of her: how nice she looked in her new clothes, how she handled herself, how lively she was. Nepeta looked over at Karkat and laughed. “You’re staring again, Karkitty.” Karkat shook himself and turned to finish his food. He responded gruffly. “No I fucking wasn’t. Don’t accuse me of shit.” He heard her giggle beside him. He didn’t really feel like turning to face her, not after he had gotten caught staring again. After taking a few minutes to finish his plate he turned to her and took both her plate and the tray, taking the plates and the tray out to the hallway, telling Nepeta he wanted to find a place to put them. Out of the corner of his eye Karkat could see John making his way up the stairs, and walked over to him, asking him where to put the plates. “Just leave them on the nightstand. It’s no big deal,” John replied, “But do you think you could come meet me on the roof after you’re done? Just go up the stairs and you’ll see me.” Karkat nodded and returned to the room. He put down the plates and told Nepeta he would be right back. She nodded as he left. 

Karkat ascended the stairs and came upon John, who was leaning over the roof’s railing at the edge of the building and staring at the nearly-set sun. Karkat looked at the sun as he approached John. It was even brighter than it was the previous night, as if to congratulate Karkat on finally finding safety. He stood next to John and leaned on the railing looking at the sunset as he spoke. “What did you need me for?” Karkat questioned. John sighed. “I just wanted to talk a little. Are you planning on leaving after you get the results back?” “Yeah,” Karkat replied, “We’re going to find a boat across Lake Michigan. I don’t know if it’ll work or not, but we’re going to try it.” John nodded. “That’s a good plan. There’s a working harbor just a little ways down. A lot of boats sail over to Canada from there. We get supplies from them a lot.” Karkat looked over at John in surprise. “Wait, so there actually are boats? Holy shit I thought it was just a fucking gamble.” “Nope! There are plenty of sailors down there.” John turned to Karkat as he went on. “They trade with a settlement in Canada. There will definitely be someone who will take you!” Karkat laughed. Everything was starting to work out. He walked back down with John, who continued on to the first floor, telling Karkat that he wanted to see if Rose was done with Karkat’s immunity test. Karkat turned into his room to see Nepeta waiting for him on the bed. “How’d it go?” she questioned. “Well. There’s a harbor close to here. Like one with actual people and boats in it. We might be able to get a ride.” Nepeta cocked her head with smile that held both happiness and worry. “So we’re going on a boat right? I don’t really like boats…” Karkat walked over and sat next to her, looking her in the eye as he reassured her. “You’ll be ok. Even if you don’t like being on boats, I’ll be there, so it’ll be ok.” She looked at him and nodded, then looked at the door as it swung open. John and Rose entered the room, both with a smile on their faces. Rose handed Karkat several papers. “Proof of vaccination,” she told him, “You’ll need those papers now that society is beginning to find its feet. The papers proving your immunity are also included.” Karkat looked at her, wide-eyed. “Wait… You mean me? I’m immune?” Rose nodded. “Completely immune, just like John.” Karkat could hardly believe it. The entire time, throughout his entire life, he was safe from the disease he had worked so hard to protect himself from. He thought about how he could’ve interacted with others without fear of the disease the entire time, how he could’ve gotten closer to Nepeta, touched her, held her hand, but he didn’t simply out of fear and ignorance. He decided silently to change that. He made the decision to break down the boundaries between them, to dissipate all of his rules. Rose and John laughed happily as they exited the room, informing the two that they were free to come for breakfast in the morning. Nepeta hugged Karkat playfully once Rose and John were gone. “Isn’t that great Karkitty? You’re safe!” He hugged her tightly and buried his face in her shoulder, savoring every time he felt himself brush up against her. “Yeah,” He responded, his voice muffled in her shirt, “I’m really fucking glad. Now there’s no boundaries between us. No more stupid fucking rules.” She giggled as she let go of him and laid down on the bed, bringing a flimsy pillow to her head and throwing another at Karkat. Karkat laid down with the pillow and faced her, his face close to hers, and her face was the last thing he saw before he fell asleep. 


	4. Chapter 4

The boy awoke slowly and sleepily. He opened his eyes and saw Nepeta’s face still inches from his, just as he had left it the night before. He stared into her face, unwilling to get up, unwilling to face the world. He wanted only for the moment to last forever, to be lost in the art of her being. As he lay there he came to accept that she was like art to him; flawed, yet inspiring. She was annoyingly cheerful, frustratingly optimistic, and aggravatingly happy; she was a glaring contradiction that angered him, but she so was interesting to him He sat up and let the events of the day before return to him. He remembered the people he met, how he and Nepeta were now safe from disease, how the people of the hospital had welcomed the two of them, complete strangers, with open arms, and how they had been invited to breakfast. 

He looked over at Nepeta, who was sound asleep on the bed, not moving an inch. He looked away, knowing she would get on him if he started staring again. He started to get up, but stopped as he felt a hand touch him shoulder. He let the hand’s soft and lazy touch drag him back down to the bed. He lay on his side and looked at Nepeta, who spoke to him with her eyes still closed. “You’re not going anywhere,” she instructed. Karkat whispered back to her in response, “Why not? We need to get up sometime. They’ve got breakfast for us, too.” Nepeta’s eyes opened slowly and she leaned up to look at the clock on the wall. She looked back to him with a puzzled expression and let her head fall heavily back to the bed.

Her muffled voice came up from the sheets. “At 5 in the morning? Not everybody gets up as early as mew do Karkitty.” Karkat groaned in response. “You know I get up early. It’s habit.” She looked over at him and lazily slapped his head, grinning as she ran her fingers through his messy hair, taking endless pleasure in the fact that she could now touch him, feel him.

“Can we lay here a little longer, purrhaps?” she asked him playfully. He groaned out his answer, trying to hide his smile. “Yeah fine. Just a little bit. We can’t lay around here for fucking ever.” He touched his forehead to hers, blissfully happy that he could share a touch with a human being again, and that he could share a touch with her. He watched as she closed her eyes and hummed happily. He closed his eyes and wished that this moment would last forever, that he could lay there with her safe, and without worry.

Karkat’s eyes opened slowly hours later, taking in the bright sun streaming in from the large window above his bed, and noticing an empty space before him where Nepeta’s sleeping body once laid. He shot up and looked around vigorously, and he jumped when he heard the closet door open. His head shot around and he saw Nepeta come out, wearing the new clothes John had provided for her. 

She wore a green t-shirt that peeked out at the top of her old cat sweatshirt, which she still insisted on wearing, and she sported new, comfortably-fitting jeans. Karkat let out a sigh of relief, knowing that she hadn’t gone anywhere, and picked up his own clothes and moved past her into the closet, quietly telling her she looked nice as he closed the door behind him. He slipped on the new clothes that John gave him; a thick jacket, a large shirt marked with a band emblem, and thick jeans that would serve him well in the approaching winter. He opened the closet door and noticed Nepeta on the bed, covering her mouth and trying to hide her large grin. 

“You look furry nice Karkitty,” she said practically giggling. Karkat shrugged and motioned for her to follow him as he made for the door. The two of them made their way quickly down the stairs to the first floor and followed the hospital’s thin hallway until they found the kitchen, where they found the hospital’s workers, although a few of the seats sat empty. John waved at the two from his seat, his mouth stuffed with food. Karkat and Nepeta walked to their seats and found themselves greeted by the smiling faces of the workers as they walked. The two of them sat down and were handed plates full of pancakes and sausages by Jade. 

“Eat up!” she told them, smiling brightly. Karkat nodded to thank her and looked around at the people at the table. They enjoyed high-energy, happy conversation, as if whatever stress and anxiety they had was dissolved in each other’s’ presence, something Karkat could now understand. Just months ago, this kind of idea would have been foreign to him, as he had no other person with whom to share happiness. He watched as the workers seemed to only amplify each other’s happiness, and Karkat realized that Nepeta did the same for him. He shoveled food into his mouth as he began to think about how his life had improved since he found a travelling partner, and how thinking about her safety and well-being often took his mind off of his own worries. He looked over to her as she ate quietly and happily, obviously happy to have found food in a world where it was so scarce. He looked away and focused on his own food, as he wanted to eat as much as he could before the two of them left. He didn’t know when they would find a good meal again. Karkat’s thoughts were disrupted by rose, who spoke up, sliding a folded-up map over to him.

“I assumed you were new to the city,” she explained, “And John told me you two were planning on finding a boat, so I marked directions on the map.” Karkat nodded and took the map, opening it up to find his destination circled with lines leading from the hospital to the harbor. He folded up the map and shoved it into one of the pockets of his coat. “Thanks,” he said quietly. “No need,” Rose responded, “I just wanted to help. In fact, all of us want to see you two make it through this. You’re not the first ones we’ve done something like this for.” Karkat heard Nepeta’s voice pipe up from behind him. “So you guys help a lot of people?” Rose laughed. “Yes, we try to vaccinate and feed as many as we can. This haven is not just for the sick.” She addressed Karkat again. “And it’s a haven in which the two of you are welcome, you know. You are free to stay and help.” Karkat sighed and looked over at Nepeta, who nodded aggressively in agreement. “Sorry, this isn’t the place for us. There has to be something more out there. And I want to find it.” Rose’s expression dropped and she spoke to him solemnly. “Just be careful.” Karkat nodded and looked over to Nepeta. “You done?” She nodded. 

Karkat tugged Nepeta’s sweatshirt and stood up, waving goodbye to the smiling faces as he left, bidding adieu to temporary friends. He walked out with Nepeta and started for the exit, but stopped as something caught his eye. He walked into the room that held the hospital’s patients and found Kanaya and Equius sitting around a sick man who had begun to breathe his last. He rasped for air as Kanaya stroked his head and tried to bring whatever comfort she could to him in his last moments. Equius sat silently at the man’s feet, saying nothing as he looked on, simply wanting to be there for the man as he passed. The man’s breathing stopped slowly and he closed his eyes, letting the disease fulfill its purpose. 

Kanaya laid the man’s head down and left as Equius rose to begin his role. He looked to the two standing in front of him and smiled wearily. He lifted the body and carried it away, saying nothing to the pair as he left. Karkat stood still, staring at the empty doorway that Equius’ massive frame once filled. He felt Nepeta grab onto his sleeve and he turned to her to find her staring at him with strong, reassuring eyes. Karkat smiled and walked outside with her at his side, both of them ready to face whatever may happen next.

With Rose’s map, Karkat found that locating the harbor was easier than he thought, and he realized that trying to find it without the map would have taken all day. The harbor wasn’t exactly alive and bustling, but the clamoring voices of people and birds could still be heard, and the docks were filled with small boats and the crewmen who inhabited them. The harbor sported a large warehouse where several sailors were unloading their goods, and Karkat realized that it was most likely the place where the hospital got all of its supplies. Karkat looked around, trying to find anyone who might be able to take him across the massive lake. His eyes stopped on a moderately-sized boat that was painted blue with the words “U.S.S. Mindfang” and a drawing of a spider scrawled on its side. He walked towards the ship, Nepeta following close behind, and saw a girl leaning over the railing, watching the workers unload supplies from other ships into the warehouse. She had long, flowing brown hair and large, circular glasses. A blue bandana covered the top of her head and she wore a long blue coat over her simple white shirt and black pants. 

Karkat called out to her and waved to get her attention as he approached the boat. “Hey!” he called out to her, “Can you give us a ride?” The girl looked over with a plain expression and walked off the boat to meet them. She looked Karkat in the eye and took in his whole frame, sizing him up from head to toe. She looked past him and did the same to Nepeta, looking over her whole figure before turning back to Karkat and jutting her thumb towards the boat behind her. “You’re good. Get on.” Karkat nodded and boarded the boat with Nepeta at his side, and the two sat on a bench that lined the side of the vessel. Karkat looked at the boat and saw that it was more a yacht than a sailboat, and was larger than he thought it to be at first sight. The boat was equipped with large sails, as there was no reliable electrical power to keep the engine going in a world like this. The boat seemed to have a lower level, which was probably for storing whatever cargo the boat brought back from its trips across the lake. Karkat’s thoughts were interrupted when the girl stood in front of the two of them with her hands on her hips. 

“I’m Vriska, the captain of this ship,” she said, her voice filled with much self-importance. Karkat opened his mouth to reply, but Nepeta’s beat him to it, her voice filled with enthusiasm and zeal. “My name is Nepeta, and this is Karkat!” Vriska nodded. “Alright. Now I just have to introduce shithead.” To Karkat’s surprise, Vriska began stomping repeatedly on the floor, calling out to someone below. “Hey shithead, get up here! We’ve got company.” Nepeta giggled as falling objects and a whiny voice exclaiming in pain were heard from below, and shortly afterward a young man emerged from below deck.

He was short and tan, and it was plain to see that he kept a Mohawk a year ago, but now the sides of his head were covered with short, brown hair that stood out in contrast to the long streak of hair in the center of his head that draped down to his forehead. He greeted Karkat and Nepeta in a whiny, unsure voice. “Um, hi. I’m Tavros.” Nepeta waved to him vigorously and introduced herself. “I’m Nepeta and this is Karkat. Are you guys the only ones on this ship?” Tavros smiled as he opened his mouth to answer, but his voice was blocked out by Vriska’s “Yeah, we’re the only ones here. I do the steering and Tavros does the work. It’s pretty simple.” “So you’re ok giving us a ride?” Karkat asked, “Where are you headed?” “Canada. All the way over,” Vriska explained, “So if you’re tagging along that’s where you’re going.” 

A light smile crawled across Karkat’s face. Everything was working out. “Yeah, that’s exactly where we wanted to go. How long will it take?” Once again, Tavros sprang to answer but found himself cut off by Vriska. “5 days. No less.” Nepeta groaned and Karkat’s jaw dropped. “F-five fucking days?” he questioned. “Well yeah,” Vriska answered, “It’s a big lake. Like really big.” Karkat sighed. “Fine. Just fucking get us there.” Vriska nodded and yelled for Tavros to ready the sails. The boat took off and let the wind guide it out onto the massive lake, and Karkat silently hoped that the future would work out, just as it had before.

Karkat and Nepeta sailed along silently for hours, sitting on the boat’s bench without a word. Vriska stared out at the lake as they sailed and Tavros had disappeared below deck. None of them had seen him since the ship set sail. The boat moved along slowly, as if it was reluctant to let the wind drag it towards its destination. Nepeta had been anxious about sailing at first, but with time she seemed to enjoy it, looking out over the lake and the far-away, barren landscape of Chicago. The city lined the sides of the lake, while the only thing Karkat could see in front of them was a seemingly endless stretch of blue. He sighed, wondering if he was going to be able to endure 5 days of sailing. He looked up at the sky and found the sun directly overhead, staring down at him with an intense and burning stare. Karkat sighed and thought to himself as he watched Nepeta’s head dart around, trying to take in all of the sights the lake had to offer. “Fuck, it’s only midday. I’m going to be stuck here staring at the goddamn sun for the next five fucking days. I swear, there’s fucking nothing to do here.” He sighed and turned around to face the water with Nepeta. 

“Isn’t it purretty Karkitty?” she asked him. Karkat shrugged. “Yeah it’s pretty for a lake.” He heard her giggle at him. “Do mew think Canada will be purretty?” “It’ll be fucking cold.” He realized he hadn’t thought of that before. John had mentioned a settlement in Canada but Karkat hoped that they had ways to keep warm. Nepeta shivered audibly. “I furgot about that. What month is it again?” “November,” Karkat recounted, “So it’s only going to get fucking colder.” Karkat didn’t blame her for forgetting what month is was. It was hard to keep track in times like these. Karkat felt Nepeta scoot closer to him, almost touching him. “We can keep warm if we snuggle Karkitty.” Karkat rolled his eyes as he heard Nepeta giggle almost uncontrollably. He looked over to see Vriska staring at the two of them with a look that showed interest, but also a hint of anger. She looked out at the lake one more time and walked down from the helm over to the two of them.

“Are you two close?” she asked them. Karkat was surprised at the question, not quite sure where it came from. “Yes, we are,” Nepeta answered. Vriska nodded and bit her lip, as if she suddenly had a deeper understand of what was going on. “So you’re ok touching each other then. I’m sure you do a lot of touching.” Karkat could see Nepeta pull her hood over her head and turn the other way out of the corner of his eye. Karkat sighed heavily and looked up at Vriska. “No. we don’t do that.” The girl nodded. “Right. Gotcha.” She winked at him as she spoke. Karkat held his hands out in front of him as if to silently ask her why she would even bring that up.

Vriska sat down on the bench next to them and stomped her foot down hard on the boat’s floor, much to the surprise of Karka and Nepeta. “Hey, Tavros! Get up here and man the helm!” Tavros scrambled up only moments later and rushed to the helm. Vriska leaned back with a smirk on her face and turned her attention back to the two on the bench. “Don’t tell me you two are safe. Is that what this is about?” Karkat looked at her, confused. He could sense a hidden hostility from her, as if she might play the part of the pirate and throw them overboard if he gave an unsatisfactory answer. 

He responded to her plainly. “No. We aren’t.” Vriska smiled and laughed in response. “Good. I don’t need quitters on my ship. Crybabies who can’t take the heat.” Without Vriska’s notice, Karkat pulled down on Nepeta’s sleeve. She pulled on her sleeves in response to let him know she understood. Karkat realized that if Vriska saw Nepeta’s bruise, she would know about the vaccination and might throw them overboard, or at least this was the worst-case scenario in Karkat’s mind. 

He let go and turned his attention back to Vriska, was looking out at the water. Karkat heard Nepeta’s voice come from behind him. “Do you guys transport supplies like those other boats?” Vriska laughed. “Yeah, but not everything makes it there. Sometimes things get lost.” Karkat groaned. “So you steal shit.” Tavros tried to object from the helm but Vriska quickly cut him off. “It’s not stealing if there’s no money involved, jackass.” Karkat turned away from her in disgust and looked up at the sky, taking in the sun’s brightness as it hung above his head and shone down with a harsh heat, making the trip seem even longer. Karkat let the sunshine bath his face as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

Karkat drifted back to consciousness slowly and kept his eyes shut. He could hear the sound of the water lap gently against the boat and he could see through his closed eyes the radiant orange of a setting sun and he could feel its warmth on his face. He slowly opened his eyes and found that the warmth wasn’t from the sun. He jumped up and tried to steady himself so he wouldn’t fall out of the boat as he awakening to find Vriska holding a lighter to his face. 

She laughed shrilly and capped her lighter. “Wow, what a heavy sleeper!” She played with the lighter in her hand and smiled as Karkat stood up slowly and put his hands to his back to stretch. He groaned and looked around as he stood up straight. 

“Where’s Nepeta?” he asked in a solemn tone, looking at Vriska questioningly. She pointed behind her as she answered him. “Kitchen. Which is where you’ll be.” With a loud groan, Karkat walked grudgingly towards the kitchen, scowling as he heard Vriska’s taunting voice. “It better be good too!” With a light nod of his head, he greeted his partner as he walked in the kitchen, relieved to hear Vriska retreat below. Nepeta cocked her eyebrow curiously. “Why do mew think she went down there?” “Probably to harass that poor bastard some more,” Karkat retorted with a chuckle. A light giggle rose out of Nepeta. “I don’t think she efur gives him a break. I don’t think she’ll give you one eifur!” Nepeta laughed as Karkat sighed and turned to the sink. “I really don’t want to make food for this jackass. She’ll probably me overboard if it’s not fucking orgasmic or something.” Karkat sighed and held his face in his hands. “Five fucking days…” 

He jumped as he felt Nepeta’s hold from behind. He heard her muffled voice creep out of the back of his shirt. “The food will be great and the trip will be quick and it’ll be fine!” He groaned and opened a cabinet above his head, hoping she couldn’t see the smile that had spread across his face. “Maybe. Or maybe you’re just saying that so I won’t whine.” After a long silence, she spoke up again. “Yeah that’s probably it.” Karkat laughed and rested his hand on hers before turning to his work. 


End file.
